Method for Determining the Carbon Footprint of a Product in Production Processes of a Production Plant

ABSTRACT

The present invention is in the field of computer-implemented methods for determining the carbon footprint of a product in a production process in a production plant, in particular of a product in interconnected production processes. Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to a computer-implemented method for determining the carbon footprint of a product produced in production process of a production plant.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of priority of European PatentApplication No. 20200091.5, filed on Oct. 5, 2020, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is in the field of computer-implemented methodsfor determining the carbon footprint of a product in productionprocesses in a production plant, in particular of a product ininterconnected production processes.

BACKGROUND

The significance of climate protection measures is growing rapidly inthe perception of the public, regulators and financial investors. Majorcompanies have announced ambitious short-term CO₂ reduction targets,including emissions related to purchased raw materials as, for example,required by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). Therefore,transparency on Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) and options to reducethe PCF are increasingly demanded by customers.

According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (WBCSD, WRI, 2011) greenhousegas emissions are categorized into so called scope 1, scope 2 and scope3 parts. Scope 1 comprises all greenhouse gas emissions of the company'sown operations (production, power plants and waste incineration). Scope2 comprise emissions from energy production which is sourced externally.Scope 3 comprise all other emissions along the value chain.Specifically, this includes the greenhouse gas emissions of rawmaterials obtained from suppliers. PCF sum up greenhouse gas emissionsand removals from the consecutive and interlinked process steps relatedto a particular product. Cradle-to-gate PCF sum up greenhouse gasemissions based on selected process steps: from the extraction ofresources up to the factory gate where the product leaves the company.Such PCFs are called partial PCFs. In order to achieve such summation,each company providing any products must be able to provide the scope 1and scope 2 contributions to the PCF for each of its products asaccurately as possible, and obtain reliable and consistent data for thePCFs of purchased energy (scope 2) and their raw materials (scope 3).

Traditionally, PCF are calculated manually using a model of theproduction process and statically attribute a value to each step. As anexample, CN 108 537 434 A discloses a method to calculate a PCF. Whileall relevant contributions are taken into account, only theoreticaland/or historical values are used as input producing the same value foreach product independent of the actual situation in a plant at a givenpoint in time. However, in a modern production plant representing acomplex system of interconnected process steps, different productionprocesses influence each other, for example because they both use steamgenerated by a power plant. Depending on the usage of such resources,the option to re-use waste or generated heat etc., the PCF for aparticular product can change even if its production process is notchanged. As an example, a reduced usage of the power plant may reduceits efficiency, so the same amount of steam produces more greenhouse gasemissions, for example because there is no use for the remaining steam,but the power plant output cannot be reduced because the electricitydemand is unchanged.

In order to calculate the scope 1 and scope 2 emissions of a product, acompany has to source and process primary data from a potentially veryhigh number of consecutive and interlinked process steps related to aparticular product in its own production process. This makes thedetermination of PCFs for the companies' products very expensive andtime-consuming. Moreover, existing standards for PCF determination leaveroom for choices and interpretation, and there is no unique andunambiguous method how to allocate the scope 1 and scope 2 emissions ofproduction plants to individual products. Traditionally PCFs arecalculated only case-by-case by individual experts—hence, this bears ahigh risk of making inconsistent methodological choices. Therefore,comparability of the resulting PCFs stemming from different sourcesand/or produced at different points in time is currently not given. Oneparticular example for a methodological choice is the allocation of GHGto co-products, which cannot be obtained alone, but only together fromone single process step, such as different fractions of hydrocarbonsobtained from the steam cracking process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of examples, and not by wayof limitation, and can be more fully understood with references to thefollowing detailed description when considered in connection with thefigures, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a multi-stage production process for producingproducts from raw materials;

FIG. 2 illustrates a multi-stage production process illustrating there-use of raw materials produced as a result of the process;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic view of a system in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic view of a system comparable to that ofFIG. 3 that further involves two group companies in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of how a user interface could beconfigured in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system foruse in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is an objective to provide a method for determining the carbonfootprint of a product based on the actual situation of the productionprocesses in a production plant at a given point in time, in particularin production plants with interconnected production processes. Moreover,the method should be fast in order to allow for frequent updates of PCFsbased on actual process data to show how adjustments in the productionprocess influence the PCFs. The method is targeted to help minimizingthe carbon footprint of the products of a production plant. Inparticular, it should be possible to analyze each contribution to thecarbon footprint and monitor any changes thereof. Another objective isto make sure that one single methodology is used to calculate the PCFconsistently for all products of a production plant.

These objectives and others were achieved by a computer-implementedmethod for determining a carbon footprint of a product produced inproduction process of a production plant comprising:

(a) gathering process data comprising information about the processsteps from the required raw materials to the product, and/or(b) gathering the carbon footprint of each raw material, and/or(c) gathering energy data comprising information about the energyconsumption for each process step,(d) determining the carbon footprint of the product taking into accountthe process data, the carbon footprint of each raw material and/or theenergy data, and(e) outputting the carbon footprint of the product obtained in step (d),preferably outputting the carbon footprint of the product and/or eachcontribution to it as obtained in step (d).

In other words, a computer-implemented method for determining a carbonfootprint of a product produced in a production process of a productionplant is presented, the method comprising:

(a) gathering process data comprising information about one or moreprocess step(s) from the raw materials to the product, and/or(b) gathering the carbon footprint of one or more raw material(s),and/or(c) gathering energy data comprising information about the energyconsumption for one or more process step(s),(d) determining the carbon footprint of the product taking into accountthe process data, the carbon footprint of each raw material and/or theenergy data, and(e) outputting the carbon footprint of the product obtained in step (d).

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to the use ofthe carbon footprint obtained by the method of the present invention forcalculating and/or optimizing carbon footprints or downstream products.

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to anon-transitory computer readable data medium storing a computer programincluding instructions for executing steps of the method according tothe present invention. The present invention further relates to acomputer program product including instructions, which when executedperform the steps of the method according to the present invention. Thepresent invention further relates to a non-transitory computer readabledata medium storing instructions, which when executed perform the stepsof the method according to the present invention.

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to a systemor apparatus for determining the carbon footprint of a product producedin a production process of a production plant comprising:

(a) an input or input unit configured to receive (i) process datacomprising information about the process steps from the required rawmaterials to the product, (ii) the carbon footprint of each rawmaterial, and/or (iii) energy data comprising information about theenergy consumption for each process step,(b) a processor or processing unit configured to determining the carbonfootprint of the product taking into account the at least one of theinformation gathered in step (a), and(c) an output or output unit configured to output the carbon footprintof the product as obtained from the processor or processing unit,preferably an output unit configured to output the carbon footprint ofthe product and/or each contribution to it as obtained from theprocessor or processing unit.

In other words a system for determining a carbon footprint of a productproduced in a production plant is presented, the system comprising:

(a) an input configured to receive (i) process data, wherein the processdata comprises information about one or more process step(s) from rawmaterials to the product, (ii) the carbon footprint of one or more rawmaterial(s), and/or (iii) energy data comprising information about theenergy consumption for one or more process step(s),(b) a processor configured to determine the carbon footprint of theproduct taking into account the information gathered in step (a), and(c) an output configured to output the carbon footprint of the productdetermined by the processor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some embodiments, a method according to the present inventiondetermines the carbon footprint of products. In the context of thepresent invention, “carbon footprint” relates to the amount ofgreenhouse gases emitted or removed in a production process of aproduction plant. The carbon footprint may relate to the total amount ofgreenhouse gases emitted or removed in the production process e.g. fromextracting natural resources to the product as it leaves the productionplant. In the context of the present invention, the carbon footprint maynot include any greenhouse gas emission later on in the lifetime of aproduct. For example, for a car the carbon footprint in the context ofthe present invention is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted toproduce the car, but not the emissions caused by using the car once ithas left the production plant. The amount of the carbon footprint istypically expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents, so the amount ofcarbon dioxide with the same effect on global climate as the actuallyemitted greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases may comprise carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrousoxide, methane, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons. Thesecan be translated into carbon dioxide equivalents according to IPCC5^(th) assessment report (cf. standards such as ISO 14067 for carbonfootprint of products or the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product StandardWRI & WBCSD, 2011).

In some embodiments, the methods of the present invention can be appliedto a wide variety of products which are produced from raw materials,such as chemical products or precursor products. The term “product” asused in the present invention generally refers to any good which can besold to others at any point in the value chain. This may include finalproducts for end consumers, for example cars, paints, toys ormedicaments; this may also include goods which are typically sold toother companies which further process them, for example steel parts formachines, plastic pellets for extrusion or chemical compounds, forexample acrylic acid to produce superabsorbers for diapers; this mayalso include goods very early in the value chain like crude oilfractions, for example naphtha, agricultural products, for example soybeans, or purified sand for glass production.

The term “raw material” as used in the present invention refers to anygood which is bought from suppliers and brought to the production plant.The raw material may include starting material used in the productionprocess of the production plant to produce the product. A raw materialcan be on any step along the value chain like the product describedabove. This means, the product of the one production plant can be theraw material of the other production plant. Raw material can alsoinclude very fundamental goods like air, water, natural gas or salt.

A “production plant” as used in the present invention is any facilitywhich is able to produce any kind of good which is sold to an endcustomer or further processed in a different production plant. Aproduction plant can be on one single site or on multiple. If theproduction plant is in multiple sites, these have to be under commoncontrol which is typically the case if they belong to the same companyor to affiliated companies. Examples for plants are power plants, steelmanufacturing plants, oil producing plants, oil refineries, chemicalplants, plants for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, plants formanufacturing construction materials, machine manufacturing plants,automobile manufacturing plants, plants for manufacturing textiles,plants for manufacturing furniture, food production plants, plants formanufacturing consumer electronics such as cell phones, plants formanufacturing and/or processing of paper, such as a printing press.

In some embodiments, the present invention comprises the step (a)gathering process data comprising information about the process stepsfrom the required raw materials to the product. A “process step” in thecontext of the present invention is generally a series of acts onto theraw materials which cannot be reasonably separated in time or space.Typically, all acts of one process step take place in one building usinga certain dedicated equipment. The production process of the productionplant may include one or more process step(s). The process data mayinclude a digital representation of the one or more process step(s) ofthe production process.

The process data can comprise information which reagents are required atwhich amounts for each process step. The process data may comprise thedigital representation of one or more process step(s) of the productionprocess and such representation may include or may be associated withthe information which reagents are required at which amounts for the oneor more process step(s). A “reagent” can be a raw material or anintermediate of a different process step. An “intermediate” refers to agood, such as a substance, which is neither a raw material nor aproduct, but is made from raw materials or earlier intermediated and isprocessed further into other intermediates and finally into the product.Each process step may require one or more than one reagent(s). The“amount” of a reagent refers to the mass, the volume or the number ofpieces per intermediate or product depending on the nature of thereagent, intermediate and/or product. The mass is typically used forbulk goods, such as metals. The volume is typically used for liquids,such as water or glycerol. The number of pieces is typically use forindividualized goods, such as screws or plastic pieces. All these unitsare given per unit of intermediate or product, for example 0.5 kg ofreagent 1 per kg of product.

The process data can comprise information about which by-products areobtained in which amount, e.g. for one or more process step(s). Theprocess data may comprise the digital representation of one or moreprocess step(s) of the production process and such representation mayinclude or may be associated with the information which by-products areobtained in which amount for respective process step(s). Some processsteps may not produce any by-products, such as the assembly of steelparts. In this case, the process data does not comprise informationabout by-products. However, many process steps produce by-products. A“by-product” in the context of the present invention refers to any goodwhich is unavoidably obtained in a process step but cannot be used in adifferent process step. Sometimes, a by-product can be recycled, i.e. besubjected to another process step or multiple process steps to obtain araw material or an intermediate which can be used as reagent in aprocess step. However, in some cases, there is no economically feasibleuse for the by-product. In this case, the by-product has to be disposed.It can, for example, be burned in an incineration. If the incinerationis part of the production plant, the thermal and/or electrical energyregained may preferably be taken into account.

The process data can comprise the information which intermediate orintermediates are obtained in each process step and at which yield. Theprocess data may comprise the digital representation of one or moreprocess step(s) of the production process and such representation mayinclude or may be associated with the information which intermediate orintermediates are obtained in the one or more process step(s) and atwhich yield. The “yield” in the context of the present invention refersto the percentage of outcome from a particular process step relative tothe theoretical maximum. If the yield is 100%, for example ifingredients are mixed into a formulation, the process data does not haveto comprise information about the yield. However, the yield can be below100% if there are losses in a process step. In chemical reactions, theyield is typically below 100%, because of side reactions and losses uponpurifications. In other processes, yields can also be below 100%, forexample if steel parts are cut or drilled, the chips may cause a lossunless they can be reused.

The process data can comprise information about any direct greenhousegas emissions by the process step. Such direct greenhouse gas emissionsoften stem from a chemical reaction of the raw materials which eithercontain greenhouse gases or generate greenhouse gases during the processstep, for example by heating. A typical example is cement production inwhich carbon dioxide evolves from heating the raw materials, inparticular from heating limestone. The process data may comprise thedigital representation of one or more process step(s) of the productionprocess and such representation may include or may be associated withinformation about direct greenhouse gas emissions by respective processstep(s). The information about direct greenhouse gas emissions usuallycontains the information which greenhouse gas is emitted at whichamount. The amount can be given relative to the amount of raw materialsor relative to the amount of product or intermediate of the respectiveprocess step. The latter can be derived from the former by multiplyingwith the yield of the process step.

In the easiest case, one or multiple raw materials are processed in oneprocess step to arrive at the product. An example could be that certaincables and plugs are the raw materials which are assembled to form acable tree as a product which is sold to car manufacturers. In mostcases, however, the production processes are more complicated. Multipleraw materials are processed into various intermediates which areprocessed into various products, wherein one raw material can be used toproduce more than one intermediate and one intermediate may be used toproduce more than one product. In such a situation, the final carbonfootprint of one product become dependent on the amount of otherproducts produced at the production plant. Hence, typically the processdata comprise the information which reagents are required at whichamounts for each process step for all products having at least onereagent or intermediate in common. For many production plants, theprocess data comprise the information which reagents are required atwhich amounts for each process step for at least two products having atleast one reagent or intermediate in common. The process data maycomprise the digital representation of one or more process step(s) ofone or more production process(es). Such representation may include ormay be associated with information which reagents are required at whichamounts for one or more process step(s) for at least two products havingat least one reagent or intermediate in common. For complex productionplants the process data comprise the information which reagents arerequired at which amounts for each process step for at least five or atleast ten products having at least one reagent or intermediate incommon. The process data may comprise the digital representation of oneor more process step(s) of one or more production process(es). Suchrepresentation may include or may be associated with information whichreagents are required at which amounts for each process step for atleast five or at least ten products having at least one reagent orintermediate in common.

An example of a more common situation is shown schematically in FIG. 1.The raw materials are denoted as R1, R2 and R3, the products are denotedas P1 and P2, the intermediates, i.e. all goods which are neither rawmaterials nor products, are denoted as I1, 12 and 13, the energyrequired for each production process are denoted as E1, E2, E3 and E4,the process steps are denoted PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4. Raw materials R1and R2 are processed in a first process step PS1 to produce intermediateI1 using the energy E1. In the next process step PS2, intermediate I1 isprocessed with intermediate 12 using the energy E3 to arrive at productP1. Intermediate 12 is also made within the same production plant inprocess step PS3 by processing raw material R3 using the energy E2. Inprocess step PS3, another intermediate 13 is obtained which can befurther processed in another process step PS4 using energy E4 to theother product P2. It can easily be recognized that the raw materials R1,R2 and R3 as well as the energies E1, E2 and E3 have an impact on thecarbon footprint of P1. However, also the usage of I3 has an impact,because if the demand for product P2 changes, either the input of I3cannot be used completely because of too low demand for product P2, ahigher percentage of the carbon footprint of R3 and the emission due toE2 will have to be attributed to I2 and consequently P1. Therefore, itis usually necessary to provide complete information about all rawmaterials and all process steps in a production plant, at least in casethat there are connections between different chains of process stepsfrom raw materials to the products. The process data may comprise thedigital representation of one or more process step(s) of one or moreproduction process(es). Such representation may include or may beassociated with information about raw materials and process steps in oneor more production plant(s), preferably in case that there areconnections between different chains of process steps from raw materialsto the products.

FIG. 2 shows another example which can particularly occur in thechemical industry. Raw materials R1 and R2 are processed in a firstprocess step PS1 to produce intermediate I1 using the energy E1. In thenext process step PS2, intermediate I1 and raw material R3 are processedusing the energy E2 to arrive at product P1 while the reagent R2 is alsoobtained. R2 can be reused in process step PS1, so a cycle is formed. Inthis situation, the process data may contain information on how much ofreagent R2 is used from a supplier and how much recycled reagent R2obtained in process step PS2 is used.

The process data is typically gathered through an interface. The processdata may be gathered from the production plant. It can be gatheredthrough an interface to a local or a remote database. Preferably, theprocess data is gathered through an interface to an enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) system or any computing system or apparatus, such as acentralized or decentralized computing system or apparatus includingprocessing and storage. In this way, the process data may be gatheredfrom the ERP system or any computing system or apparatus. The ERP systemor any computing system or apparatus may obtain the information from theproduction plant. In this case, the process data may by gathered fromthe production plant via the ERP system or any computing system orapparatus. In this way, the process data may be updated or instantlyupdated once any change in the production plant or its surroundingoccurs. Depending on the ERP system or the computing system or apparatus“instantly” may mean in less than or equal to one day, preferably lessthan or equal to six hours, in particular less than or equal to onehour. A typical example of such a change would be that the productionplant receives insufficient reagent from a different factory and has touse an external supply instead. Such an external supply usually has adifferent product carbon footprint than the internal intermediate, hencechanging the carbon footprint of the product produced in the productionplant. Another advantage of an ERP is system is that the data isstandardized and validated, i.e. it is reliable and typically does notneed further validation.

An “ERP system” in the context of the present invention shall have itscommon meaning. A typical ERP system provides an integrated andcontinuously updated view of core business processes using commondatabases maintained by a database management system. ERP systemstypically track business resources such as cash, raw materials,production capacity and the status of business commitments: orders,purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the systemtypically share data across various departments such as thoseresponsible for manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, thatprovide the data.

Preferably, in particular for more complex production processes, inparticular for interconnected production processes, the method of thepresent invention, in some embodiments, further comprises subdividingthe production process into at least two process steps based on theprocess data. Such a process is typically needed if the process data isnot available in a format which attributes all information directly to aprocess step, but is only available in a format from which thisinformation is derivable.

As an example, the process data gathered from the production plant maycontain the materials used as starting materials and the productsproduced, but not the information which process step uses as startingmaterial the product of which other process step. Therefore, the methodof the present invention, in some embodiments, preferably furthercontains determining for each process step which process step precedesthis process step based on the amount of a particular starting materialused in this process step and the amount of the same material producedby other process steps. This can be achieved by identifying for eachmaterial, for example by a material identifier, all process steps whichproduce this material and all process steps which use this material asstarting material. These process steps need to be connected. If more ofa particular starting material is used in a process step than producedby the other process steps, this difference can be identified as rawmaterial. The result can be validated by comparing the amount of rawmaterial of a certain material with the procurement information of thisraw material. Such procurement information can typically be obtainedfrom the ERP system.

If the production plant(s) comprise multiple entities such as groupcompanies, for example in different countries, the different entitiessuch as group companies often use separate ERP systems or any computingsystem or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computingsystem or apparatus including processing and storage. If an intermediateproduced by one entity is shipped to another entity using thisintermediate in another process step, the ERP systems or any computingsystem or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computingsystem or apparatus including processing and storage may treat suchoperations as external transactions for legal reasons. However, for thepurpose of the present invention, such data may be consolidated toidentify intermediates produced by one group company and used by adifferent group company. Such information may be accessible from the ERPsystems or may require other data sources, such as a shared database.Hence, preferably the process data is gathered through an interface toERP systems or any computing system or apparatus of different groupcompanies, wherein the process data is consolidated to identifyintermediates produced by one group company and used by a differentgroup company. The process data may be gathered through an interface todifferent production plants, preferably different computing or storageresources communicatively connected to the different production plants.The process data may be gathered through an interface to enterpriseresource planning systems of different group companies, The process datamay be consolidated to identify intermediates produced by one groupcompany and used by a different group company.

Certain embodiments of the present invention comprise (b) gathering thecarbon footprint of each raw material. For most raw materials, thecarbon footprint can be obtained from the supplier provides or frompublic or private databases. Usually, different suppliers provide thesame raw material with different carbon footprint due to differences inits production process or logistics. Therefore, preferably, the carbonfootprints of a raw material are gathered for each supplier togetherwith an identifier of the supplier. This information can then be used tocalculate the carbon footprint of that particular raw material dependingon how much of the raw material is used from which supplier. The resultcan be taken into account for determining the carbon footprint in themethod of the present invention. In rare cases, no carbon footprints areavailable. In this case, the carbon footprint may be estimated, forexample by comparison to very similar products on the market. The carbonfootprint of each raw material is typically gathered through aninterface. The carbon footprint of each raw material can be gatheredthrough an interface to a local or a remote database or an ERP system,in particular its supply chain module, or any computing system orapparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computing system orapparatus including processing and storage. The carbon footprint of eachraw material may hence be gathered from an ERP system or any computingsystem or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computingsystem or apparatus including processing and storage. Usually, thecarbon footprint of each raw material is gathered through an interfaceto more than one database. It is therefore often necessary to convertthe information retrieved from different databases into a single formatto allow further processing. In particular, the carbon footprintsobtained from databases have to be attributed to the raw material, i.e.the identification of a raw material in the database has to betranslated to the identification of the raw material of the process dataused in the process according to the present invention.

Certain embodiments of the present invention comprise (c) gatheringenergy data comprising information about the energy consumption for eachprocess step. Energy data typically comprises the amount of energyconsumed, the energy form and its origin. The amount is often given asspecific energy per piece or mass of the product or intermediate of thatrespective process step. The amount can be positive, i.e. if the energyis consumed, or negative, i.e. if the process step produces energy. Anexample for the latter is the production of sulfuric acid from sulfur.Sulfur is reacted with oxygen releasing thermal energy which can be usedin a different process step. The energy form includes electricity,thermal energy, such as warm water or steam, cooling or fossil fuelssuch as gas or petrol. In the case of fossil fuels, these are also rawmaterials, but their carbon footprint only refers to the greenhouse gasemission for producing these. However, the exhaustion of carbon dioxideupon burning these may be taken into account as well. The origin of theenergy refers to source where the energy is taken from. For example,thermal energy can originate from power plants, from other process stepsor from solar panels. Hence, the origin can have a considerable effecton the greenhouse gas emission associated with the energy consumption.It can be useful to average energy data over a certain period of time,for example over a period of 3 years, to compensate for example seasonalvariations. The energy data is usually transformed into carbonfootprints by taking into account the energy sources and their specificgreenhouse gas emissions.

The energy data is typically gathered through an interface. The energydata can be gathered through an interface to a local or a remotedatabase or an ERP system or any computing system or apparatus, such asa centralized or decentralized computing system or apparatus includingprocessing and storage. The energy data may hence be gathered from anERP system or any computing system or apparatus, such as a centralizedor decentralized computing system or apparatus including processing andstorage. Usually, the energy data is gathered through an interface tomore than one database. It is therefore often necessary to convert theinformation retrieved from different databases into a single format toallow further processing.

The energy data can also be available directly or indirectly from theenergy source, for example a power plant having sensors attached to aprocessing system which provides its information through an interface.The production plant usually also has sensors to determine the amount ofenergy consumed by or from the power plant. Often, a production planthas multiple sensors providing data about the energy consumption of acertain process step or certain equipment. Hence, the energy data may begathered directly or indirectly from the energy source and/or from theproduction plant. In many production plants, however, such information,namely the energy data, is first transferred to an ERP system or anycomputing system or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralizedcomputing system or apparatus including processing and storage fromwhich it can be gathered. This means, the sensors for determining theenergy consumption transfer their data to the ERP system or anycomputing system or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralizedcomputing system or apparatus including processing and storage fromwhich it can be gathered.

Commonly, in particular for larger production plants, multiple energysources are available. For example, the production plant is on a largersite which has a power plant, such as a gas power plant or solar panels,and in addition the production plant can obtain energy from a publicpower grid. Depending on the energy source the contribution to theproduct carbon footprint can be quite different, for example essentiallyno contribution if the energy is received from a solar panel or a windturbine or a significant contribution if the energy is received from apublic power grid which provides energy from coal power plants.Therefore, preferably, the energy data also comprises information aboutthe source the energy is received from. This information is typicallyobtained from sensors in the production plant or in a central powersupply facility. The energy data preferably contains information of thecarbon emissions caused by each energy source from which energy isreceived. In this way, it is possible to calculate the contribution ofthe energy to the product carbon footprint.

The energy data may not be readily available for each process step, butmay only be available in more aggregated form, for example the energyconsumption of a factory in which multiple process steps are executed.In this case, the energy consumption for each process step has to bederived from such aggregated data. This can be achieved by determiningthe share of the energy consumption of each process step in theaggregated data. To this end, a suitable basis is defined, for example,in a simple approach, based on the share of the production volume, forexample measured in physical quantity such as mass, of each of theprocess steps. A more precise way of allocating the energy consumptionis by using data about the energy-related production costs at theproduct level, obtained for example from an ERP system.

The steps (a), (b) and (c) can be performed consecutively or inparallel. It is also possible to perform two steps in parallel and theremaining step before or after. If the steps are performedconsecutively, they can be performed in any order, such as first step(a), second step (b) and third step (c) or first step (a), second step(c) and third step (b) or first step (b), second step (a) and third step(c) or first step (b), second step (c) and third step (a) or first step(c), second step (a) and third step (b) or first step (c), second step(b) and third step (a). Preferably, the steps are performed in parallel.

In some embodiments, the process according to the present inventionfurther comprises (d) determining the carbon footprint of the producttaking into account the process data, the carbon footprint of each rawmaterial and the energy data.

Determining the carbon footprint of the product comprises summation ofthe carbon footprints of each raw material used in a particular processstep as contained in the process data from step (a). If a process steprequires an intermediate from a different process step, the sum of thecarbon footprint of the raw material for this earlier process step isdetermined and used as input for the later process step. It may benecessary to repeat this if the earlier process step again uses anintermediate of an even earlier process step. If one process step yieldsmore than one intermediate, for example two or three, it is necessary toshare the carbon footprint of the raw materials among theseintermediates. The share for each intermediate should reflect the rawmaterial usage for each intermediate. In some cases, two intermediatesare formed at the same amount, so the carbon footprint of the rawmaterials can be equally shared among them. In other cases,significantly more of one intermediate is formed than the other, forexample 90% of intermediate 1 and 10% of intermediate 2. The carbonfootprint should be shared accordingly. Hence, preferably, in the methodof the present invention determining the carbon footprint involves, insome embodiments, calculating the carbon footprint for an intermediateproduced in a preceding process step and using the carbon footprint ofthe intermediate as input for the calculation of the carbon footprint ofa subsequent process step. In particular, in interconnected productionprocesses, the calculation of the carbon footprint can be facilitated bysubdividing it into analogous calculation parts, one for each processstep.

It has to be noted that the aforementioned approach of using the alreadydetermined carbon footprint for an intermediate as input for thecalculation of the carbon footprint of a subsequent process step has theadvantage that even the same calculation algorithm or formula can beused for the carbon footprint calculation of each process step of even acomplex production process including a multitude of interconnectedprocess steps. Furthermore, this approach allows for an improvedautomatization of an underlying carbon footprint calculation of anentire production process, or entire value chain respectively.

Alternatively, it is possible to first prepare a consolidated bill ofmaterials for each process step. This means, that for each process step,all raw materials are listed which are either directly used in thisprocess step or in any preceding process step along the chain of processsteps. The amounts of these raw materials are adjusted according theusage of the intermediate and its share in a process step yielding morethan one intermediate. For example, in FIG. 1 for process step PS2, theconsolidated bill of materials contains the raw materials R1 and R2 atits full amount and raw material R3 multiplied by the ratio of 12/13accounting for the fact that some raw material is also used forintermediate 13 which is not used in process step PS2. Once thisconsolidated bill of materials is obtained, the carbon footprint foreach raw material is summed to arrive at the carbon footprintcontribution of the raw materials for each process step. Hence,preferably, determining the carbon footprint comprises preparing aconsolidated bill of materials for each process step to arrive at thecarbon footprint contribution of the raw materials for each processstep. In particular, in interconnected production processes thecalculation of the carbon footprint can be facilitated by subdividing itinto analogous calculation parts, one for each process step.

Determining the carbon footprint of the product can comprise adding thecontribution of the energy required for each process step. For thisreason, the required amount of energy may be attributed with an amountof greenhouse gas emissions. Usually, energy is provided by adistribution network, such as an electricity network or a hot water orsteam network. Such networks are typically fed by different powerplantsand sometimes other energy sources, for example heat generated by otherprocess steps. In practice, it is hence not possible to determine, whichportion is actually from which energy source, but only average valuesare accessible. Therefore, typically information about the greenhousegas emissions are only available as average over the total energyconsumption of the complete production plant. If all energy is suppliedby an external supplier, such as an electricity company, the averagegreenhouse gas emission per energy unit is usually accessible from theenergy supplier. However, in particular large production plants oftenown their own power plants. In this case, the amount of greenhouse gasemission of this power plant may be determined. The share of this totalemission, which can be attributed to the process step underdetermination, can be derived from the ratio of the energy consumptionof this process step divided by the total energy output or consumptionof the power plant. In this way, each process step is assigned an energycarbon footprint, i.e. the amount of greenhouse gases originating fromthe energy usage of that process step.

It is possible to add the contribution of the energy in each processstep to the carbon footprint of the raw material used in that step, so atotal carbon footprint for an intermediate is obtained for the firstprocess step along a production chain which can be used as input for thenext process step. This calculation can be repeated for each followingprocess step to arrive at the product. However, for complexinterconnected processes, such an approach may be impractical.

Alternatively, preferably, the contribution of the energy for theproduct is determined for the product independent of the raw materials.To achieve this, the energy contribution for each process step is addedaccording to the process data. If a process step yields more than oneintermediate or the intermediate is used in more than one other processstep, the contribution is shared among these, so only that part of theprocess step is taken into account which can be attributed to theproduct. For example, if one process step yields two intermediates atthe same ratio and only one intermediate is used to produce the product,only half of the energy contribution of said process step is used forthe determination of the energy contribution. To arrive at the totalcarbon footprint of the product, the contribution of the raw materialsand the contribution of the energy is added. Hence, preferablydetermining the carbon footprint of the product comprises determiningthe contribution of the energy in each process step and add shares of itaccording to the process data.

In some cases, the process step generates energy which can be used inother process steps. Typically, such energy is heat which can be fedback into the warm water or steam network. Such energy generation can betaken into account for the carbon footprint by subtracting a value whichwould be emitted if the same amount of heat had to be produced by apower plant. Therefore, determining the carbon footprint of each processstep further comprises subtracting greenhouse gas emissions for energyemission of the process step which is reused in other process steps.

For process steps which yield by-products, their contribution to thecarbon footprint may be taken into account. Often, by-products are burntin an incineration and thereby emitting greenhouse gases. The amount canoften relatively easily be determined, for example by calculating thecarbon content of the by-product which gets converted into carbondioxide in the incineration. In some cases, the by-product can berecycled involving further process steps until the outcome can be usedas new raw material or intermediate. If the recycling is done in thesame production plant, the recycling process steps can be subjected tothe same analysis as the production process steps yielding a carbonfootprint which is added to the process step yielding the by-product.However, often the by-products are recycled by recycling companies, sosaid analysis is not possible. Instead, the recycling company mayprovide carbon footprints of the recycling process. Otherwise, areasonable value may be estimated. Hence, determining the carbonfootprint of each process step can further comprise adding the emissionscaused by disposing or recycling the by-products.

For process steps which cause direct greenhouse gas emissions, thesedirect emissions may be added to the carbon footprint of the processstep. Hence, determining the carbon footprint of each process step canfurther comprise adding the emissions caused by direct greenhouse gasemissions. It is also possible to determine the contribution of directemissions for the product along the production chain analogously to theraw material contribution and the energy contribution and finally add itto the other contributions.

In some embodiments, the process according to the present inventionfurther comprises (e) outputting the carbon footprint of the productobtained in step (d). Outputting can mean writing the carbon footprinton a non-transitory data storage medium, displaying it on a userinterface, providing it to an interface for further processing or anycombination thereof. It is also possible to provide the output throughan interface to a customer, for example to the customers supply chainsystem or ERP system. It is also possible to provide the output throughan interface to the EPR system of the producer itself from where it canbe distributed to where this information is needed. When the carbonfootprint and each contribution to it is output onto a user interface,the user interface preferably uses graph technology. In this way, it ispossible to analyze the contributions along the production process inorder to optimize the production process and thereby minimize the carbonfootprint for the products. It is also possible to monitor changes ofthe carbon footprint upon changes in the production process. Inaddition, the output can be used to simulate effects of changes, forexample by manually changing certain values and see its effect on thecarbon footprint of the product. For example, the effect of replacing aparticular raw material by one having lower carbon footprint for eachproduct may be analyzed.

Preferably, the process further comprises outputting the carbonfootprint for each process step as it contributes to the carbonfootprint of a certain product. In this way, it is possible to analyzethe contribution of each step, in particular the contribution of rawmaterials and energy in each step. This allows the identification ofpotential to reduce the carbon footprint of the product.

Embodiments of the methods according to the present invention areparticularly useful for production plants which execute interconnectedprocess steps. The term “interconnected” in the context of the presentinvention means that at least one process step uses two intermediates ofdifferent other process steps or uses one intermediate of differentother process steps each producing this intermediate or yields twointermediates which are used in two different other process steps.Hence, preferably, the production plant executes interconnected processsteps. Even more preferably, the production plant is a chemicalproduction plant executing interconnected process steps. Often, theinterconnected process steps are executed in different factories, may beon different sites, potentially operated by different group companies.

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to the use ofthe carbon footprint obtained by a method of the present invention forcalculating and/or optimizing carbon footprints of downstream products.Downstream products in the present context means any product which usesany one or more products for which the methods according to the presentinvention are executed. For example, the carbon footprint of a plasticgranulate is determined by a method of the present invention. Thisplastic granulate is delivered to a producer of toys. This producer usesthe plastic granulate to extrude the toys. The toys are in this examplethe downstream product. The toy producer may itself want to determinethe carbon footprint of the toys. For this purpose, the producer mayobtain the carbon footprint of the plastic granulate as determined by amethod of the present invention and use it for calculating the carbonfootprint of the toy. The producer may itself use the methods of thepresent invention, but may equally use a different method.

The carbon footprint obtained by the methods of the present inventioncan also be used for optimizing the carbon footprint of downstreamproducts. The carbon footprint can, for example, be entered into adatabase together with other information about the product, such as theproducer, the specifications, the price, or the availability. In thisway, a manufacturer of downstream products may search for productshaving low carbon footprints such that they contribute little to thecarbon footprint of the downstream product and hence optimize the carbonfootprint of the downstream product.

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to anapparatus configured for or a method for providing the carbon footprintobtained by the method of the present invention in connection with aproduct identifier. Such product identifier may be associated with theraw material of the production process for downstream products. In someembodiments, the present invention further relates to an apparatusconfigured for a method for calculating and/or optimizing carbonfootprints of downstream products based on the carbon footprint obtainedby the method of the present invention.

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to anon-transitory computer readable data medium storing a computer programincluding instructions for executing steps of the methods according tothe present invention. Computer readable data medium include harddrives, for example on a server, USB storage device, CD, DVD or Blu-raydiscs. The computer program may contain all functionalities and datarequired for execution of the methods according to the present inventionor it may provide interfaces to have parts of the method processed onremote systems, for example on a cloud system.

In some embodiments, the present invention further relates to a systemor apparatus for determining the carbon footprint of a product producedin a production process of a production plant. Unless explicitlydescribed differently hereafter, the description relating to the methodincluding preferred embodiments also applies to the system or apparatus.The system or apparatus can be a computing device, for example acomputer, tablet, or smartphone, or a distributed computing system orapparatus or apparatus such as a cloud system. Often the computingdevice has a network connection in order to communicate with othercomputing devices, such as servers or a cloud network.

In some embodiments, the system or apparatus according to the presentinvention comprises (a) an input or input unit configured to receive (i)process data comprising information about the process steps from therequired raw materials to the product, (ii) the carbon footprint of eachraw material, and (iii) energy data comprising information about theenergy consumption for each process step. Preferably the input or inputunit has an interface to an ERP system or any computing system orapparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computing system orapparatus including processing and storage to obtain the information.Preferably, the input or input unit is configured to receive (i), (ii),(iii) in parallel. In complex production plants, in particular in thoseinvolving multiple group companies, the data may not be available from asingle data system, but from various. Depending on the compatibility ofthe different data systems, it may be necessary that the input comprisesan interface to a system which collects the data from different sourcesand converts them into a common data format. In particular, the inputcomprises an interface to a consolidation system which collects processdata from more than one ERP system or computing system or apparatus,such as a centralized or decentralized computing system or apparatusincluding processing and storage, wherein the consolidation systemconsolidates the process data to identify intermediates produced by onegroup company and used by a different group company. The input or inputunit may comprise an interface to a consolidation system which collectsprocess data from different production plant(s). The consolidationsystem consolidates the process data to identify intermediates producedby different production plants.

In some embodiments, the system or apparatus according to the presentinvention comprises (b) a processor or processing unit configured todetermining the carbon footprint of each process step taking intoaccount the information gathered in step (a) and consolidating thecarbon footprint thus obtained to arrive at the carbon footprint of theproduct. The processor or processing unit may be a local processorcomprising a central processing unit (CPU) and/or a graphics processingunits (GPU) and/or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)and/or a tensor processing unit (TPU) and/or a field-programmable gatearray (FPGA). The processor or processing unit may also be an interfaceto a remote computer system such as a cloud service.

In some embodiments, the system or apparatus according to the presentinvention comprises (c) an output or output unit configured to outputthe carbon footprint of the product, preferably the carbon footprint ofthe product and each contribution to it as obtained from the processoror processing unit. Preferably, the output or output unit has aninterface to an ERP system or a computing system or apparatus, such as acentralized or decentralized computing system or apparatus includingprocessing and storage. Preferably, the output or output unit comprisesa user interface, in particular a graphical user interface. The userinterface is preferably configured to display the carbon footprint ofthe product and each contribution, preferably comprising thecontribution of the raw materials, the contribution of the energy, andthe contribution of the direct emissions of each process step.Preferably, the user interface is configured to use graph technology.The user interface may be configured to provide an overview of eachprocess step, its raw materials and energy required, the connection withother process steps. The user interface may also provide the carbonfootprint for each process step, in particular it may be configured todisplay the carbon footprint originating from the raw materials, fromthe energy consumption, and from the direct greenhouse gas emissionsseparately and in aggregated form. FIG. 5 shows schematically an exampleof how the user interface could be configured. The raw materials and theintermediates to the product are displayed according to the chain ofinterconnected process steps. The arrows represent process steps. Theirwidth reflects the amount of greenhouse gases the respective processstep contributes to the carbon footprint of the product. It may bepossible to display further information when hovering over a box or anarrow with the mouse pointer, for example specifics about the rawmaterial, intermediate or product or the exact value of the greenhousegas emission. Preferably the carbon footprints are displayed inaggregated form showing the contributions of the raw materials, theenergy usage and direct greenhouse gas emissions.

Preferably, the system is adapted to receive updated data at any timeand can update the output or carbon footprint and/or its contributionsin real time, which usually means within less than a few minutes,preferably within less than a minute, for example within 1 to 30seconds.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the system. The input or input unit 10is configured to receive (i) process data comprising information aboutthe process steps from the required raw materials to the product, (ii)the carbon footprint of each raw material, and (iii) energy datacomprising information about the energy consumption for each processstep. Processor or Processing unit 20 is configured to determining thecarbon footprint of each process step taking into account theinformation obtained from the input unit 10 and consolidating the carbonfootprints thus obtained to arrive at the carbon footprint of theproduct. Output or output unit 30 is configured to output the carbonfootprint of the product and each contribution to it as obtained fromthe processing unit.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a system comparable to that in FIG. 3,but the production plant involves two group companies C1 and C2. Eachgroup company provides process data 101, 201, the carbon footprint ofeach raw material 102, 202 and energy data 103, 203 through an interfaceto consolidation systems 11, 12, 13. The consolidation system 11consolidates the process data to identify intermediates produced by onegroup company and used by a different group company. The consolidationsystem 12 consolidates the carbon footprint of each raw material 102,202 to arrive at one list of raw material with associated carbonfootprint. The consolidation system 13 consolidates the energy data 103,203 to arrive at a uniform data set of energy data.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexemplary form of a computer system 600 within which a set ofinstructions (e.g., for causing the machine to perform any one or moreof the methodologies discussed herein) may be executed. In alternativeembodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. Themachine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine inclient-server network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, aserver, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a singlemachine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein. Some or all of the components of thecomputer system 600 may be utilized by or illustrative of at least someof the devices utilized to perform the various methods of the presentinvention.

The exemplary computer system 600 includes a processing device(processor) 602, a main memory 604 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flashmemory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM(SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory 606 (e.g., flashmemory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storagedevice 620, which communicate with each other via a bus 610.

Processor 602 represents one or more general-purpose processing devicessuch as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. Moreparticularly, the processor 602 may be a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing(RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor,or a processor implementing other instruction sets or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. The processor 602 mayalso be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an ASIC,a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor(DSP), network processor, or the like. The processor 602 is configuredto execute instructions 626 for performing the operations and stepsdiscussed herein.

The computer system 600 may further include a network interface device608. The computer system 600 also may include a video display unit 612(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), or atouch screen), an alphanumeric input device 614 (e.g., a keyboard), acursor control device 616 (e.g., a mouse), and/or a signal generationdevice 622 (e.g., a speaker).

Power device 618 may monitor a power level of a battery used to powerthe computer system 600 or one or more of its components. The powerdevice 618 may provide one or more interfaces to provide an indicationof a power level, a time window remaining prior to shutdown of computersystem 600 or one or more of its components, a power consumption rate,an indicator of whether computer system is utilizing an external powersource or battery power, and other power related information. In atleast one embodiment, indications related to the power device 618 may beaccessible remotely (e.g., accessible to a remote back-up managementmodule via a network connection). In at least one embodiment, a batteryutilized by the power device 618 may be an uninterruptable power supply(UPS) local to or remote from computer system 600. In such embodiments,the power device 618 may provide information about a power level of theUPS.

The data storage device 620 may include a computer-readable storagemedium 624 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 626(e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. The instructions 626 may also reside,completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604 and/orwithin the processor 602 during execution thereof by the computer system600, the main memory 604 and the processor 602 also constitutingcomputer-readable storage media. The instructions 626 may further betransmitted or received over a network 630 via the network interfacedevice 608.

While the computer-readable storage medium 624 is shown in an exemplaryembodiment to be a single medium, the terms “computer-readable datastorage medium” or “machine-readable data storage medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The terms “computer-readabledata storage medium” or “machine-readable data storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any transitory or non-transitory medium that iscapable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methodologies of the present disclosure. The term“computer-readable data storage medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical media, andmagnetic media.

In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth. It will beapparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure, that the present disclosure may be practicedwithout these specific details. In some instances, well-known structuresand devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, inorder to avoid obscuring the present disclosure.

Some portions of the detailed description may have been presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is herein, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the preceding discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “gathering,” “outputting,” “configuring,” “receiving,”“converting,” “causing,” “streaming,” “applying,” “masking,”“displaying,” “retrieving,” “transmitting,” “computing,” “generating,”“adding,” “subtracting,” “multiplying,” “dividing,” “selecting,”“parsing,” “optimizing,” “calibrating,” “detecting,” “storing,”“performing,” “analyzing,” “determining,” “enabling,” “identifying,”“modifying,” “transforming,” “aggregating,” “extracting,” “running,”“scheduling,” “processing,” “capturing,” “evolving,” “fitting,” or thelike, refer to the actions and processes of a computer system, orsimilar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within thecomputer system's registers and memories into other data similarlyrepresented as physical quantities within the computer system memoriesor registers or other such information storage, transmission or displaydevices.

The disclosure also relates to an apparatus, device, or system forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus, device, or system maybe specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may include ageneral purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may bestored in a computer- or machine-readable storage medium, such as, butnot limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks,compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magnetic-optical disks,read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions.

The words “example” or “exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use ofthe words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in aconcrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intendedto mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unlessspecified otherwise, or clear from context, “X includes A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, ifX includes A; X includes B; or X includes both A and B, then “X includesA or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition,the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform. Reference throughout this specification to “certain embodiments,”“one embodiment,” “at least one embodiment,” or the like means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, theappearances of the phrase “certain embodiments,” “one embodiment,” “atleast one embodiment,” or the like in various places throughout thisspecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in scope by the specificembodiments described herein. Indeed, other various embodiments of andmodifications to the present disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from thedescription and accompanying drawings. Thus, such other embodiments andmodifications are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Further, while the present disclosure has been described inthe context of a particular embodiment in a particular environment for aparticular purpose, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat its usefulness is not limited thereto and that the presentdisclosure may be beneficially implemented in any number of environmentsfor any number of purposes. Accordingly, the claims set forth belowshould be construed in view of the full breadth and spirit of thepresent disclosure as described herein, along with the full scope ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for determining a carbon footprintof a product produced in a production process of a production plant, theapparatus including at least one processor for executingprocessor-executable instructions that, in response to execution, enablethe apparatus to perform actions comprising: (a) gathering process datacomprising information about one or more process step(s) from the rawmaterials to the product; (b) gathering the carbon footprint of one ormore raw material(s); (c) gathering energy data comprising informationabout the energy consumption for one or more process step(s); (d)determining the carbon footprint of the product taking into account theprocess data, the carbon footprint of each raw material and/or theenergy data; and (e) outputting the carbon footprint of the productobtained in step (d).
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theactions further comprise subdividing the production process into atleast two process steps based on the process data.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein determining the carbon footprint involvescalculating the carbon footprint for an intermediate produced in apreceding process step and using the carbon footprint of theintermediate as input for the calculation of the carbon footprint of asubsequent process step.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereindetermining the carbon footprint involves preparing a consolidated billof materials for each process step, wherein the bill of materials listsall raw materials which are either directly used in this process step orin any preceding process step, wherein amounts of these raw materialsare adjusted according the usage of the intermediate produced in apreceding process step.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe actions further comprise determining for each process step whichprocess step precedes this process step based on the amount of aparticular starting material used in this process step and the amount ofthe same material produced by other process steps.
 6. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the process data is gathered from theproduction plant via a centralized or decentralized computing apparatus.7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the energy data isgathered from the energy source or the production plant via acentralized or decentralized computing apparatus.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the carbon footprints of a raw materialare gathered for each supplier together with an identifier of thesupplier and wherein determining the carbon footprint takes into accountthe amount of raw material from a particular supplier and its associatedcarbon footprint.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theproduction plant executes interconnected process steps.
 10. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the process data comprises theinformation which reagents are required at which amounts for eachprocess step, information about which by-products are obtained in whichamount, information which intermediate or intermediates are obtained ineach process step and at which yield, information about any directgreenhouse gas emissions by the process step or any combination thereof.11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein determining the carbonfootprint comprises preparing a consolidated bill of materials for eachprocess step to arrive at the carbon footprint contribution of the rawmaterials for each process step.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein determining the carbon footprint of the product comprisesdetermining the contribution of the energy in each process step andadding shares of it according to the process data.
 13. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the process data is gathered through aninterface to different production plants, preferably different computingor storage resources communicatively connected to the differentproduction plants.
 14. An apparatus configured to use the carbonfootprint determined by the apparatus of claim 1 for calculating and/oroptimizing carbon footprints of downstream products and/or in connectionwith a product identifier.
 15. A computer-implemented method fordetermining a carbon footprint of a product produced in a productionprocess of a production plant, the method comprising: (a) gatheringprocess data comprising information about one or more process step(s)from the raw materials to the product; (b) gathering the carbonfootprint of one or more raw material(s); (c) gathering energy datacomprising information about the energy consumption for one or moreprocess step(s); (d) determining the carbon footprint of the producttaking into account the process data, the carbon footprint of each rawmaterial and/or the energy data; and (e) outputting the carbon footprintof the product obtained in step (d).
 16. A system for determining acarbon footprint of a product produced in a production plant comprising:(a) an input configured to receive (i) process data, wherein the processdata comprises information about one or more process step(s) from rawmaterials to the product, (ii) the carbon footprint of one or more rawmaterial(s), and/or (iii) energy data comprising information about theenergy consumption for one or more process step(s); (b) a processorconfigured to determine the carbon footprint of the product taking intoaccount the information gathered in step (a); and (c) an outputconfigured to output the carbon footprint of the product determined bythe processor.
 17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the inputcomprises an interface to a consolidation system which collects processdata from different production plant(s), and wherein the consolidationsystem consolidates the process data to identify intermediates producedby different production plants.
 18. The system according to claim 16,wherein the output comprises a user interface configured to display thecarbon footprint of the product and one or more contribution(s)comprising the contribution of the raw materials, the contribution ofthe energy, and/or the contribution of the direct emissions of eachprocess step.